I'm Grateful For
by Mr.BaseballBat
Summary: Brushing fears under the carpet only gives them a place to grow and wait. Maybe the waiting game is over. 'This time, his eyes were covered by his hands too, knees drawn up to his chest as he wept.' Sequel to 'Lygophobia'. Contains NessxLucas.


Second fan fiction! If you haven't read 'Lygophobia' I recommend that you read that before this because there's a few references and its a sort of continuation. Again, tell me what's wrong with it and how I can improve. I will be eternally grateful. Do you get it? No? No, okay. I'm sorry.

Contains NessxLucas. And I sort of tortured Ness a little. I apologise :'( I felt so bad writing it but I think that scene is what I need most work on. It's supposed to jump around have contradictions so that's not because I messed it up. Which I probably have. Help! Also, the rating is T. If you want me to change the rating (I don't know why, though) just ask.

Enjoy!

Update: Just sorted a few things out.

* * *

"Okay... I'm grateful for..." A sweet and feminine voice sounded, from within a fairly large group of friends, rather slurred as the owner looked around the room for inspiration. Finding her source, a pair of white shoes, Peach gasped and said quickly, "I'm grateful for people wearing white!"

The circle surrounding her broke apart as the Smashers who didn't wear white clothing had to scramble to find a chair. Fortunately, those wearing white were able to sit down on the floor immediately signalling their immunity. She watched with bewitched enjoyment as Marth and Toon Link fought over the last chair, reigning Marth superior after a short while. Toon Link grumbled, walked away, sword still drawn- a threat to any that tried to 'cheer him up'. He sat by the wall with a bored expression. Sulked.

"Why do we only have fourteen chairs when there are fifteen of us, Peach?" He groaned as his head fell back against the wall and the others regained their previous standings; a circle.

"Well, that means that the game can move on, sweetie," She said in an understanding tone as she moved to the closest chair, picked it up, advanced toward Toon Link, "Unfortunately, you lost!" Peach said a little too happily for Toon Link's liking as she brought the chair over and set it down, "Here, take this. It doesn't mean you're back in the game but it's comfier than the floor! Really, Toon Link," She scowled as she inspected his clothes before setting off on a motherly tangent.

Two children watching the spectacle snickered and were just plain happy that they weren't in that humiliating situation. Being the smallest of the group (excluding Kirby, Diddy Kong, Popo & Nana and Pikachu) and situated at the back of the gathering ensured their safety.

"Dude, look at him!" Ness whisper-exclaimed, laughing and pointing in the direction of Toon Link, who was turning slowly as Peach inspected every inch of him, "He's so peeved." Another round of giggling and cackling ensued before the high-pitched ranting came to an end and Pit stood at the front of the group.

"Okay, still want to play this game or do you want to try another?" Pit asked politely and confidently before grumbling, "We got some sour-pusses here..." Eyes to the side to indicate he was looking at Toon Link as he said it.

"Yeah! Play a different game!" Of course. Toon Link had jumped up from the chair and was buzzing with excitement. However, the others weren't convinced, "What game is it?" A shout from the back encouraged nods and sounds of agreement. Pit smiled sweetly before continuing.

"It's a game that we've never played before," This comment brought bubbles of excitement to the room as some Smashers enjoyed having the chance to play a different game for once, "It's called Flash-light Tag!"

This set everyone off. They were laughing and talking about what it could possibly entail when someone voiced the question loudly, gaining the attention of the angel.

"Well, we all have flash-lights and one of us is 'it'. The tagger has to stand somewhere and count to thirty while we all run and hide. You can use your flash-light but try to use it strategically," he said slowly as he looked at Diddy Kong, who looked down with disappointment, and continued to the rest, "You can be tagged by getting the flash-light shone on your person and then you're a tagger but someone from your previous team is able to tag you by hand to make you a hider again. Oh yeah, silly me! I forgot to mention; it's outside. In the _dark!_" Pit said in an uncharacteristically sadistic tone as he looked at some of the younger Smashers on the front row and flung his hands out, emphasising 'claws'. Only Popo visibly flinched.

"Everyone good? Good! Let's go!" His persona completely surfaced again, he left no room for argument as the room's occupants scattered out into the corridor with uproar and down the stairs.

This left two misfit children alone in the room that was suddenly far too big. And quiet.

Whilst Ness looked forward, no apparent emotion present on his face or in his body language, except for the tensing up of his muscles every so often, his "fight or flight" response building up adrenaline, Lucas watched him warily. He shuffled his feet a few times, a silent and daring question to escape the confines of the awkward silence.

Then, like nothing had happened, Ness' body relaxed and he looked over to his friend with an audacious smirk before asking, "Well, should we go? I bet they're waiting for us." He didn't wait for an answer, instead moving towards the door after his question, leaving Lucas to simply follow.

_Great thinking, Pit. It had to be in the dark. It just _had_ to be. _Lucas thought bitterly as he followed the surprisingly brisk boy in front of him. Catching up to Ness, Lucas meekly strided alongside him until, a hesitant question, "Ness, a-are you sure about this?"

Ness grinned and waved it off dramatically saying, "Oh come on, Lucas! It's fine. _I'm_ fine! It's about time I get over this anyway, you know?" Ness finished confidently as he set off at an even faster pace, close to running. Sighing, Lucas continued at his own comfortable pace, falling behind dramatically as Ness power-walked ahead. _Wait for it..._ Lucas thought slowly as he pouted at the boy's stubborn nature.

He heard the doors to the Mansion growl on rusty hinges as he was advancing down the steps and heard them shut loudly just as quickly. _There it is_, Lucas thought smugly. Turning the corner of the staircase, he found Ness standing by the double doors looking at the floor with his hands behind his back, possibly wringing them. Said boy descried Lucas sharply as he made himself known with a small throat-clearing cough, smiled sheepishly and muttered, "I thought I'd wait for you."

Lucas sighed discreetly and opened one of the doors, leaving first because they would be there all night otherwise. As predicted, the group were waiting outside in the gardens and were easily passed off with a "We forgot some stuff in our room, sorry". Grabbing the last two flash-lights offered, Ness and Lucas stood with the others as they waited for Pit to pick a tagger.

"Hmm... Me!" He exclaimed. That was easy enough.

As he turned his back, everyone fled; noisily at first, silently as they found their hiding spots. Ness and Lucas had sprinted to a nearby oak tree, Lucas in the lead with Ness following close behind, speeding up whenever he lost about two millimetres of distance between the two. He was at a desperate loss as he thought about taking his friend's hand for comfort. Almost running into the rough, hard texture of the oaken bark, Ness immediately sat down on the other side of the trunk of the tree, Lucas following suit. The trunk was wide enough to cover the both of them and then some. As Lucas began picking at the bark of the roots around their feet, he noticed that Ness' heavy breathing wasn't calming down.

Either he was in really bad shape or he was scared. He hoped it was the first one. _Don't do this to me, Ness. Not now...__!_ Lucas screamed silently as he watched Ness' right hand travel up to his chest out the corner of his eye. Finally facing his friend, ready to take his hand in solace, Lucas was robbed of speech.

* * *

Ness was trembling, eyes screwed shut and a pained expression haunted his face. His hand applied so much pressure to his chest that his knuckles turned a pale white. Briefly, his eyes opened to find Lucas holding onto his shoulders and gently shaking him. In fact, gently couldn't describe it, he couldn't feel Lucas' hands on him at all. All he could feel was a persistent numbness and a screeching noise in his ears. His head fell back and forth as he was shaken, phantom pressure on his shoulders. It was all too slow. He didn't feel the terrible choking pain in his chest anymore so his hand dropped to his side. The movement was ponderous and inadvertent, his optics laboriously following it's path.

Stopping his actions, Lucas released his grip, stood hastily as Ness watched with half-lidded eyes. They felt so heavy and burdensome. He could just close them and slip away into his own comfortable darkness. But... his mother had always said something about not sleeping when you're hurt, hadn't she? He couldn't remember. And he wasn't hurt anyway, was he? An image of his mother kissing his forehead and stroking his head fell into his mind clumsily and was banished before the fingers of his mind could grasp it and hold the memory tenderly.

His mother. His sister. His dad's voice. He missed them all so much. Realising his vision had strayed to the mud-filled ground, Ness picked his head up again to look at Lucas. Where did he go? No. He wouldn't leave him. Not in the dark. He couldn't. Sorrowful, Ness looked to the ground again in despair. Wait, there wasn't this mud here before, was there? His hand was plunged into the mud experimentally and he found that he could fit his whole arm in the puddle.

Extracting his arm, Ness watched in sleepy awe as his mud-soaked arm emerged completely clean. Finally giving into the temptations of his somnolent eyelids, Ness closed his eyes and relaxed his body immediately. After only a few seconds, or that's how it seemed, his eyes opened. He was not fully revitalized, however. In actuality, he felt ten times worse. His eyes were stinging and his throat burned. He tried his vocals which only sounded broken and raspy. His temperature was steadily rising and he felt incredibly uncomfortable until a cool cloth was placed upon his forehead in a rushed manner. A pleasant presence rested on his arm with the memorable feeling of companionship.

Comfortable again, his thinly opened eyelids fell once more but for longer this time. Opening his eyes, he felt like new. His vision was sharper. So acute that the colours around him seemed... wrong somehow. The grass, for example, was a dusty black yet it swayed with the wind just like normal grass. Peering upwards, the sky was yellow. It was strange; he didn't feel that his surroundings were foreign yet this is what perplexed him. He knew that it was all wrong but he couldn't recall any other colours to suit these features.

Abruptly, a small tree, about his own size, emerged in front of him, two or three metres away at most. It grew as if he was watching feed of about five years as the tree's growth lasted for only ten seconds. Cocking his head in confusion, the tree emulated instantly. It's small crown and upper trunk fell to the side lazily. Deformed as it lay silent and unbroken for a moment or two. Twitching, creaking, the half of the trunk that fell to its side curled around itself and extended up to the yellow light. The leaves fell, slowly at first, then like a harsh blizzard had struck it, the leaves were ripped from their stalks and bases, carried away, leaving ghosted limbs swaying eerily in the breeze.

Unexpectedly, the tree's boughs, branches and twigs simply disappeared. A dead trunk in solitude. Ness' vision became hazy and distorted, colours runing into each other like ink, acute sense of sight wavering as terrifying shrieks ripped through the air all around him. Eyes plastered to the tree and ears covered by heavy hands, Ness watched in silent torment as bloodied and broken human limbs replaced the previous positions of the gibbet's old branches. Thunder rumbled and the shrieks began to fall away one by one into the abyss when lightning struck the tree producing sparks and an extraordinary fluorescence. Ness' tightly closed eyes opened warily only to shut immediately and pushed his feet against soft ground in an attempt to flee, hindered by the oaken tree behind him. This time, his eyes were covered by his hands too, knees drawn up to his chest as he wept in the distressing and unknown land.

* * *

Lucas watched in silence as Ness' breathing suddenly evened out and his head dropped to his chest, eyes widening when Ness made no other move. Quickly, he fell onto his knees and crawled in front of Ness, attempting to get a better look at him. He sighed with relief when he found Ness' chest to be rising and falling ever so softly it was barely noticeable. But it was definitely something.

His hands found their way to Ness' shoulders based on pure instinct. At first, he shook gently, afraid to hurt the emotionally-deceitful boy before him but he grew more panicked and frenzied when there was no response. Finally, when Lucas shook Ness' body hard enough, his friend's eyes opened and his arm fell to his side limply. The next thing Lucas thought was: _Stroke_.

"Ness, speak!" He shouted, not caring about hiding from Pit. This wasn't a game anymore. Unsurprisingly, this attracted attention but not enough. Lucas glanced up and saw Red approaching them warily, thinking that the game was going to continue. When he saw Ness, however, he lifted himself from his slight crouch and ran to the two children direly, calling the others with him. Lucas stood and met him halfway, explaining what happened.

"Well, do you know why it happened?" Red asked urgently, adding, "It could help us determine what's going on."

After a couple of false starts and mental apologies to Ness he told Red how scared he was of the dark and that he was hyperventilating before his neck gave way. Red nodded staring at the ground whilst biting his thumb nail before he murmured, "It was a secret, wasn't it?"

Lucas nodded solemnly and Red agreed not to tell anyone about it unless it was absolutely necessary. As everyone else appeared, stricken to see Ness in such a condition, they gathered around him and bounced ideas off of each other. Their ideas were cut short when Ness moved his left arm to the side and Lucas could have cried; it wasn't anything fatal, for now. Suddenly, his side dipped down to the ground and it seemed somewhat controlled. This is what truly confused them. If he had have fainted, he would have no voluntary control of his body.

Unless it was involuntary.

"Did he eat something that none of us had? He could be having severe hallucinations." Though that explained so much, Ness hadn't eaten or drank anything different from the others. Lucas shook his head but said, "Maybe it's something not normal." Inquisitive looks were thrown at him forcing an explanation.

"This sounds really stupid, but what if its because he's psychic? I've had hallucinations before when I haven't had a fever or anything but I've never been like this. Maybe doubled with, um, heavy breathing, or something, the state is worsened?" Lucas suggested, the whole time his eyes were trained on his poor friend. This earned a few nods but mostly because no one had any idea what was happening or how to help.

Ness' body lifted itself into an upright position against the tree and immediately relaxed, his chin falling to his chest again. Red became flustered and said in an almost irritated tone, "Forget this." He stood up from his position of sitting on his haunches, picked the small boy up and laid him down where it was more comfortable ground for resting on, instead of having to sit on old roots. Lucas joined him while everyone else gave them space. Soon enough, Pit landed next to Red with a warm cloth from the Mansion' kitchen and placed it on Ness' forehead when Lucas removed his hat.

When Lucas concentrated hard enough, he thought he saw Ness' eyes open ever so slightly but that may have been wishful thinking and trickery.

* * *

After a few minutes, Ness was taken inside the Mansion when the cloth upon his brow grew cold. He was laid in his bed and everyone from the game earlier were ushered out of the room, leaving only Red and Lucas at Ness' side. Red risked a glance at the boy opposite himself and decided that he had definitely come a long way, confidence included, from the Subspace Emissary quest.

Quickly, a shaky breath was drawn and Red's eyes were already trained on Lucas and knew that he hadn't even opened his mouth. To his right, he saw slight movement, watched the expected happiness and overall relief crash into Lucas like a tidal wave and stood. He reached over the small bed and gripped Lucas' shoulder with support before he left quietly. The small smile Lucas threw to him confirmed his suspicions, that, no, Lucas did not want him there.

"See you later, Lucas." Only a whisper sealed his departure.

Lucas watched the door close but immediately directed his attention to Ness. Occasionally, a tear or two had exuded from Ness' closed and peaceful eyes and a few dried trails remained visible. It didn't suit him at all. Lucas' hand reached out hesitantly and wiped at the almost meandering trails. Mostly, it was just an excuse to be able to touch Ness after having to restrain himself for so long, what with Red being present. He might have gotten the wrong idea. Or the right idea.

Ness began to move again but it wasn't like the last time. Earlier, Ness had shifted his legs under the sheets in awkward movements and unexpectedly cried out. Lucas had pleaded with himself mentally to embrace his friend and attempt to calm him down. Remembering the other night of complete restlessness, Lucas began to stroke Ness' unkempt hair for the sanity of both parties included. A dark thought. A prelude. '_Do whatever you can to him. He's vulnerable._'Biting his lip, he banished the thought after a shameful consideration. It was right though. He could do anything he pleased and Ness would never be the wiser.

Taking small and careful steps, Lucas' hand crept down from his hair and onto his brow where he began his journey. His index finger traced over and around Ness' facial features slowly and memorised each tiny imperfection and the unique layout of minor details across his skin. Lastly, his finger danced across the soft lips that held so many smiles and grins, rarely in use for frowning.

Finally, Ness began to rouse and Lucas pulled his hand back as if it had touched fire. He was definitely playing with it at this stage. Ness' eyes opened blearily and time was given to allow them to focus. When Lucas came into view, Ness' haunted eyes widened and he was about to say something but he only gaped. It seemed like madness itself was whispering its seductions into his ear and he couldn't decide between false reality and authentic illusions.

"N-Ness?"

Lucas watched him cautiously like a rescuer helping a wounded animal. Closing his mouth, Ness made a small sound, a gentle choke, if anything. His lip quivered. He looked to be fighting internal demons.

Lucas smiled in pity, that terrible feeling made itself known again, and offered a shaky hand. Ness observed it in a way that suggested disgust but Lucas persisted. He wanted to show a sign of friendship but didn't want to go any further after the distraction that claimed him so easily beforehand. However, Ness viewed it as a challenge. Lucas was challenging who Ness was. His character. His strengths.

Unexpectedly, Ness threw himself forward and embraced Lucas breaking his line of defence of the 'handshake'. Lucas' arms quickly snaked their way around Ness' waist and he indulged in Ness' scent. Bed, oak and grass.

"What happened?" Ness whispered, afraid of harming Lucas' eardrum with his close proximity, voice still raspy from misuse.

"You fainted, I think. We don't really know what happened. Did you hallucinate?"

"L-Lucas... it was terrifying..." Ness buried his head into the warm crook of Lucas' neck and found sanctuary when Lucas held him tighter.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Lucas whispered.

"I don't know how to deal with it..."

"Don't you think you should talk about it, then?"

"I don't want to. Not now."

"Well, it's okay now. I'm here, we're all here." As they held each other, Lucas tapped into Ness' mind. The forbidden zone by Lucas' standards- but it had to be done. He had already given into temptation once, how could a second time hurt? He was so close to Ness physically and mentally that the memory was more responsive, holding no secrets. He watched with great regret as Ness' fears lay themselves bare before him in his delusion or hallucination, wincing when the tree produced human limbs in replacement of its original boughs and impeded the cry at the back of his throat when the tree, the root of all Ness' recent fears, transformed into a gruesome image of Lucas' body thoroughly butchered and laid out neatly in pieces. His phantom body, he realised was the point of view of Ness, making it all the more blood-curdling as his identical emotions were reinforced twofold.

Lucas immediately let go of the vision, knowing full-well that he trespassed into an unforgiving area, and was about to pull away from their embosom in fear when Ness whispered, "You saw it, didn't you?"

Apologetically and reluctantly, Lucas nodded and allowed Ness to pull away. He expected him to lie down again and not speak to him for invading his privacy. He expected him to pull himself out of his bed and leave the room in pain just to get away from Lucas. However, Ness didn't do any expected actions in the scenarios created. He just sat there, cross-legged on his bed. Just staring.

Lucas began to feel awkward and glanced around their room to avoid looking at Ness and his eyes landed on their window. Gazing out into the twilight, Lucas decided to call the long night to an end. In fact, it was probably morning. When he stood to retreat to his own bed, Ness grabbed his hand, tugged soundlessly. Embarrassment crept onto Lucas' cheeks and he finally looked Ness in the eye.

"Please stay." Ness begged quietly, entreatment evident in his lonely and small voice.

A moment's hesitation and Lucas joined Ness under the sheets after switching the lights off. Ness didn't like it but there wasn't much else to do; Lucas wouldn't be able to sleep meaning he would be tossing and turning and ultimately he would keep Ness awake.

This night, however, was a little different. They seemed to be... Lucas sighed as he thought of the reality of what they were doing: Spooning. In a strange way, that is. Lucas was the 'spooned' and Ness was the 'spooner'. Too afraid to react, Lucas froze in place, as did the atmosphere around him, until a warm, hesitant arm fell over his waist cautiously. His defences were once again defeated and thrown aside nonchalantly by his most recent weakness. This new thought alarmed him but his body betrayed him. He relaxed and even felt Ness scoot closer, enjoying Lucas' state and scent. Now it was more like spooning.

His arm around Lucas' midriff tightened and Lucas murmured almost automatically, "Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere."

"I'm Grateful For... Lucas."

He could even hear the smile that danced on Ness' lips as he said those lightly ironic words. He felt the light chuckle escape through his nose as a light kiss was planted on the back of his head. Lucas couldn't help but grin.

Damn Ness and his glorious charms.

* * *

How did I do? Please review :)


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